בְּרֵאשִׁית בָּרָא אֱלֹהִים אֵת הַשָּׁמַיִם וְאֵת הָאָרֶץ
BEREISHIT bara Elokim et hashamayim ve'et ha'aretz.
1. IN THE BEGINNING G-d created the heaven and the earth.
Why did the Torah begin with the Creation? Because of that which is expressed in Tehillim 111:6, "He told His people the power of His works, [i.e., G-d gave an account of the Creation to Yisrael] in order to give them the heritage of nations."
For if the peoples of the world would say to Yisrael, "You are robbers because you took the lands of the seven nations [of Kenaan] by force!" then Yisrael can reply to them, "All the earth belongs to Hashem, He created it, and gave it to whom He saw fit. It was G-d's will to give it to them [that is, to the seven nations], and it was His will to [subsequently] take it from them, and give it to us." (Yalkut Shemot 12:2)
Bereishit bara - G-d created the world for the sake of Torah, which is called, "The beginning (reishit) of His way," (Mishlei 8:22) and for the sake of Yisrael, who is called "The beginning (reishit) of His produce." (Yermiyahu 2:3)
Thus the word bereishit is expounded to read: בשביל ראשית, meaning, "for the sake of [those who are called] reishit," namely, the Torah and Yisrael.
We now can interpret “B’reishit bara Elokim et hashamayim ve’et ha'aretz” as “For the purpose of Torah and Yisrael, G-d created everything.”
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Source: Chok L'Yisrael
